Septem'jer 7, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
221 
- The “ Kew Bulletin ” for August, a copy of which has come 
to hand, contains as usual much useful information. Among other 
articles is a report of the “ Californian Fruit Industries,” and another 
on the “ Plant Industries in the Caucasus.” Other important matters 
dealt with include “ Fibre Investigations in the United States,” “Decades 
Kewenses, VI,,” “ St. Vincent Arrowroot,” “ Pulping Liberian Coffee,” 
and “ Henequen Hemp in Yucatan.” Some miscellaneous notes are 
also given, and from these we extract the four paragraphs that follow. 
- Leitnebia feoridana, Chapm.—Dv. W. Trelease, Director 
of the Missouri Botanic Gardens, St. Louis, U.S.A., has forwarded to 
Kew a specimen of this species, found by him in Missouri. This in¬ 
teresting plant, previously recorded from the salt marshes of Florida 
only, was placed by its author in the order Myricaceas, but raised to the 
rank of a monotypic order by Bentham and Hooker in the “ Genera 
Plantarum,” vol, iii., p. 396. A good figure of it is given in Hooker’s 
“ leones Plantarum,’' t. 1044. It forms a shrub from 2 to 6 feet high, 
somewhat resembling a Willow, from which it differs in having a solitary 
ovule affixed laterally. From Myrica it is easily distinguished by the 
absence of resinous glands in the leaves, while the elongated (not globose) 
inflorescence separates it from Platanus. 
- Wood of Araucaria. —The trank of the historic Araucaria 
imbricata, referred to in the “ Kew Bulletin” for January last, p. 24, as 
having died during the previous autumn, has been cut up and a specimen 
deposited in the Museum. The trunk measures about 30 feet high and 
1 foot 4 inches in diameter at the base. A sample of the wood of a tree 
of this species grown at Tortworth Court, Gloucestershire, and a walk¬ 
ing stick made of the same wood, both presented by Earl of Ducie, 
F.K.S,, in 1890, are shown in Museum No. 1. The wood is light, soft, 
and open grained, and apparently of but little value economically, 
though in its native country it is said to be strong and durable. The 
best known timber-producing species of Araucaria, however, are the 
Moreton Bay Pine (A. Cunninghami, Ait,') and the Bunya Bunya (A. Bid- 
willi. Hook). The first is a native of Northern New South Wales and 
Queensland, and the second grows only in Queensland. Both are trees of 
some 100 to 150 feet high, producing planks of very large size and 
light-coloured even-grained woods, suitable for furniture, flooring, and 
other carpentry work ; some samples of the Moreton Bay Pine are 
prettily marked with small pale clouded knots, somewhat resembling 
Birds’-eye Maple. It takes a good polish. Good specimens of both these 
woods are shown in Museum No. 3. 
- Fiji Fruit Trade. —In a report just issued by the Colonial 
Office on the Fiji Island (No. 72, 1893), the following information is 
given respecting the fruit trade :—The trade of the colony has advanced 
rapidly during the year. The green fruit trade, however, has not in¬ 
creased to any great extent, and the profits made from the production 
and export of this staple have undoubtedly fallen off. This is owing, 
locally, to the presence of a disease among Bananas which prevents 
their bearing (“ Kew Bulletin,” 1890, p. 272 ; 1892, p. 48). The Govern¬ 
ment have for some time been endeavouring to arrange for the temporary 
services of a pathologist to examine the causes of this disease, and if 
possible to provide a remedy. The trade has also been affected by the 
competition of the Colony of Queensland in the markets of New South 
Wales and Victoria. The export of green fruit to New Zealand has, 
however, doubled within the last four years, as has also that to 
Victoria. There will always be a sale for Fijian green fruit, as 
the quality of the Bananas produced in Fiji is admittedly superior 
to that of those coming from Queensland, which are often sold under 
the name of Fijian Bananas. A few of the “ Gros Michel ” Bananas 
suckers have been imported from Trinidad, with the view of seeing 
whether they resist the disease better than the locally grown “ China ” 
Bananas. 
- Anthracxose in Vines.—T he Vine disease known by the 
name of Anthracnose, caused by a minute fungus called Sphaceloma 
ampelinum, De Bary, is well known on the Continent and in North 
America. As a serious disease, its presence has only been noted in 
England during the past year, and it is probably widely diffused, speci¬ 
mens have been received at Kew for determination from such distant 
localities as Dorking and Edinburgh. Anthracnose is an insidious 
disease, which in its milder forms would not be likely to arouse appre¬ 
hension on the part of the cultivator, yet successive attacks for four or 
five years often kill the plant. The young shoots, leaves, flowers, and 
fruit are attacked. The disease on the young shoots appears at first 
under the form of minute brown spots. These soon increase in size and 
become sunk or depressed at the centre, the epidermis becomes broken 
up into minute white downy particles, and as the disease extends the 
shoots become almost black, the internodes are short, and the develop¬ 
ment of the leaves arrested, not expanding, of a harsh, brittle texture, 
and hairy below. The present disease is quite distinct from the one 
known as “ black rot,’’ although the two have by some authorities been 
considered to be identical. The following method of treatment has 
generally proved effectual in eradicating the disease In the spring, 
before the buds open, the plants should be thoroughly sponged with a 
50 per cent, solution of sulphate of iron in water ; the atmosphere at 
this time should be kept damp. When the young shoots are about 
6 inches long they should be dusted with flowers of sulphur, and if the 
disease makes headway the dusting should be repeated, the sulphur 
being mixed with an equal quantity of powdered lime. Very badly 
diseased plants should be removed and burnt, as such are not amenable 
to the above or any other mode of treatment. A detailed account of 
this disease, also preventive methods and treatment, is given by Viala. 
(“ Les Maladies de la Vigne.” Masson : Paris.) 
- Stocks for Pears. —Mr. Spencer King writes from Ipswich : 
—“ In my little garden I am experimenting by budding Pears of good 
quality on stocks which have disappointed me. Bergamotte Esperen 
and Fondante d’Automne both on the Quince are most disappointing, 
although on the Pear stock in the same garden they do well. Amongst 
other kinds I budded Durondeau on the Bergamotte Esperen and 
Fondante d’Automne, and it bears very freely, and produces thus 
double grafted far larger crops than the remaining original stocks. 
Durondeau is a magnificent Pear. My original tree is on the Quince 
stock trained to a wall, but in that case I seldom get a crop, as frost cuts 
off the blossom.” 
- The Weather in Hertfordshire.— Mr. E. Wallis, The 
Gardens, Hamels Park, Buntingford, Herts, writes :—The weather 
during August has been of a tropical character, and quite unprecedented 
for the amount of sunshine, rot one full dull day occurring during the 
whole month. Rain fell on ten days. Maximum in any twenty-four 
hours was 0-32, on the 23rd ; minimum in any twenty-four hours was 
O'Ol, on the 20th; total during the month 1'74, against 3'40 of 1892. 
Wasps have become a plague, and notwithstanding the destruction of 
450 nests they are still masters of the situation, eating and ruining the 
fruit before it is ripe. I find nothing to equal cyanide of potassium for 
the destruction of their nests. 
- Fruit Growinu in Australia. —Although, says an Austral¬ 
asian contemporary, nearly every kind of fruit procurable in Europe is 
extensively grown in Australia, the two leading crops are Oranges and 
Grapes, both of which are acclimatised fruits, the Orange having been 
introduced about 1817, and the Grape about seven years later. The 
orangeries in the Ryde and Parramatta districts are equal, as regards the 
size of the trees and the luxuriance of the fruit, to any in Southern 
Europe. In Tasmania neither the Vine nor the Orange has been 
successfully cultivated, but in portions of Western Australia both appear 
destined to become leading crops. In Victoria various efforts have been 
made to cultivate the Orange, but without success. In estimating the 
rate of production, considerable difficulty is occasioned by the absence 
of uniformity in the statistical returns furnished by the different 
colonies. Grapes being, for instance, estimated by the ton in one and 
by the pound in another. This fact has long been a source of complaint, 
but at present nothing has been done towards placing the returns on a 
more uniform basis. 
- Apples and Cool Chambers.—A number of experiments 
that have been made by fruiterers of late seem to point to the fact that 
when shipments of Apples from Australia to London are found to be in 
bad condition on arriving at their destination, the cause must be 
attributed to something besides faulty packing. An Australian paper 
says that another important experiment recently made in Melbourne 
strongly supports this theory. A number of fruit merchants and others 
witnessed the opening of a case of Apples. A consignment of similar 
fruit, packed at the same time and in the same way, was dispatched to 
England by the steamer “ Orient,” and the Apples arrived in bad 
condition. On the case that was kept at home being opened the Apples 
were found to be in perfect condition, showing no sign whatever of 
decay, and possessing their full flavour and sweetness. They had been 
kept where the ventilation was by no means perfect, but where the 
changes of temperature did not affect them in any way. The Apples 
which comprised the Five Crown, Sturmer, and Jonathan varieties 
were packed in an ordinary fruit case, each Apple being wrapped in 
tissue paper, and paper shavings being used for packing. Some Pears 
placed in the same case with the Apples were quite decayed, but they 
are said to have been overripe when packed. 
